The bulletin is the latest in a series arising from data collected in the 2010/11 Drug Prevalence Survey. It presents results on cocaine usage, as well as on a range of other issues including age of first use, usage patterns, how cocaine was obtained and attitudes in relation to cocaine.

The survey found that over one in fourteen people (7%) had used cocaine at some point in their life, 2% in the last year and 0.5% in the last month. More than twice as many men (10%) as women (4%) reported using the drug at least once in their lives, and lifetime use among young people aged between 15 and 34 years was nearly twice the rate of use among those aged between 35 and 64 years (9.4% vs. 4.8%).

Comparisons with previous surveys indicate significant increases in lifetime prevalence of cocaine use for all adults, for males and for older adults. Dr Orla Dempsey, who carried out the analysis of this data for the NACDA, noted however, that there were significant decreases in the frequency of cocaine powder use since 2006/7; the majority of current cocaine powder users (96%) reported using cocaine on 1-3 days in the month before the survey which was the lowest frequency of use, compared to 68% in the previous survey. In addition, in the 2006/07 survey, 7% of current cocaine powder users had reported using cocaine on 20 or more days in the month prior to the survey while the latest survey recorded nil in this category.

According to the survey, the average age at which respondents first used cocaine was 21 years of age for both men and women. The survey also found that, for those who became regular users the lag time from age of first use to regular use for all adults had increased since the last survey from 1 year to 1.5 years.

The survey provided insights into the social context in which the drug was used. Just fewer than 80% of recent users (used in the last year) obtained their drugs from someone known to them. 20% bought the drug from a contact not known to them personally, were given the drug from a contact not known to them personally, or accepted the drug from a stranger.